USA > Iowa > Pottawattamie County > History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa. Containing a history from the earliest settlement to the present time biographical sketches; portraits of some of the early settlers, prominent men, etc. > Part 42
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HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY.
County for that work, named this stream in honor of Miss Mamie Cress, who lived near it. In Section 27, Little Keg Creek empties into the main stream. It rises in Section 28 of Norwalk Township, and is joined by Weasel Run in Section 20 of Hardin Township. Flowing across the southeast corner of the township is one of the tributaries of Silver Creek, known as Little Silver Creek.
The first permanent settler of the township was Mr. Rees D. Price, who came from Wales in 1849, and settled in Hardin Township in 1850. In Section 20, where Mr. Price set- tled, there was a village of thirteen log huts, where lived a number of Mormon families. In Section 32, there was another settlement of Mormons of eleven huts. In the summer of 1850, the Mormons left without having made any improvements of a lasting charac- ter. Their departure left the family of Mr. Price entirely alone. In 1854, Mr. Price moved one mile south of his original claim, and settled on the place where he now re- sides. His original place is owned by his son, J. A. Price. Perhaps the first white man who lived for any length of time within the boundaries of Hardin Township, was Richard Hardin, in honor of whom the town- ship was named. "Old Dick Hardin," as he was familiarly called, became a resident of the township long before the coming of Mr. Price. He spent most of his time in hunt- ing, trapping and trading with the Indians, and for a number of years kept a station on the old stage route. He now lives near St. Joseph, Mo., having been a resident of that State prior to becoming one of Pottawattamie County.
The valuable lands of Hardin Township attracted the pioneers, and within a few years a number of families had settled there, Stephen Williams settled at an early day on Section 27 on the Council Bluffs & Lewis
Stage road. Mr. Williams now lives in Council Bluffs, and Mr. J. C. Barnard owns his old place. Mrs. Gratin Perry and family, of Vermont, were among the settlers as early as 1857. She purchased the property of a Mr. Augustus Ayers, who was living alone in a miserable old hut. Mrs. Perry passed through some of the hard times incident to pioneer life. In these early years, the ques- tion of providing supplies presented not un- frequently a very difficult problem. The first season, she paid $4 per bushel for seed potatoes, and $1.25 per bushel for wheat to feed her team. Mr. James Wild came from England in 1857, a short time previous to the coming of Mrs. Perry and family, and settled on his present place. Mr. R. C. Thomas also came in the year 1857 from Vermont, and has followed farming and stock-raising since living in Hardin Township. He is now seventy-three years old, but a hale, hearty old gentleman, who is never behind his neigh- bors in any local enterprise. Soon after and in 1857, Mr. W. K. Eames, also from Ver. mont, came to Hardin, but did not purchase his farm until 1865. There were others who came to this township early, but only re- mained a short time. Those mentioned are among the principal early settlers.
The first road in the township was the old Council Bluffs & Lewis Stage road, which ran across the southern part of the township. east and west. It was over this route that such an extensive business was done by the Western Stage Company on their line from Council Bluffs to Des Moines and Iowa City. There is one station on this line, in Hardin Township, known as Hardin Station, so called after Richard Hardin, or "Old Dick " Hardin, the popular station agent for a number of years at this point.
The first bridges built in the township were on this road. There were two, and both made
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HARDIN TOWNSHIP.
of logs, one crossing Keg Creek at Hardin Station and the other built across Weasel Run. The balance of the roads in the town- ship are of more recent date, and most of them run east and west, centering at Council Bluffs. Changes are being gradually made in these roads, and they are now much more confined to section lines than they were when first broken for travel. As farms are being fenced and brought under a state of cultiva- tion, the roads are changed to wind around them. There are many small wooden bridges in this township crossing the creeks. These were erected at the expense of the county, and are perhaps more in number than there otherwise would have been but for the agita- tion of the question of dividing the county. the people of the eastern portion of the coun- ty desiring to be severed from the western half and organized into a new county. The question has come to a vote, but the hound- aries remain the same. With this feeling in the community over the probability that the county would some day be divided, the citizens, east and west, felt like making pub- lic improvements, while the entire popula- tion was subject to taxation.
"The groves were God's first temples," and so they are yet so far as Hardin Town- ship is concerned, as there is not a church building in the township. This, however, is not because the people are not religiously in- clined, nor because they are less 'moral than in other parts of the county. They have preferred to wait until their societies grow stronger, when they will be able to build a better and more substantial edifice than they can now afford to erect. The Methodist Epis- copal society is the largest, and has now about twenty members. It was organized in 1880 by Rev. M. D. Collins, of Council Bluffs. Their first pastor was Rev. Jackson, and their present pastor is Rev. Branstone.
This little society is deserving of a great deal of credit. Some time ago they organized a Sabbath school, which has been maintained with much interest and success, now having an average attendance of forty scholars. This is the only Sabbath school that has ever been organized in the township which has become thoroughly established, and which those most interested in it feel assured has now arrived at a point beyond an experiment. In con- nection with the Sabbath school, and as an additional feature of interest, they have a circulating library. Other Sabbath schools have been organized in other parts of the townships, but none have survived for any length of time. In the absence of churches, sermons are delivered from time to time in the several schoolhouses.
The first school ever taught in the town- ship was by Mr. Lorenzo Burr, in 1857. Mr. Burr was engaged to teach by Mr. Rees D. Price, and school was held in a log cabin be- longing to him. The settlers continued to have a school, though under great disadvan- tage, until 1860. when the first schoolhouse in the township was erected. This building was built in Section 27, and though there is no school building in that section at present. there is one in the section both east and west of it. The first teacher secured to teach in the new building was an English priest by the name of Middleton. The first school- house built by the township is located in Sec- tion 18, near the residence of Mr. James Wild. This is known as Schoolhouse No. 1.
The statistics for the year 1881, in regard to the schools of Hardin Township, are as follows:
Number of subdistricts. 5
Number ungraded iu cach district. 5
Average number of mouths taught.
Teachers: Number employed-Males, 2; fe- males, 7; total 9
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HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY.
Average compensation per month-Males, ยง30; females, $30; total .. $60
Pupils: Number between the ages of 5 and 21
years-Males, 102; females, 82; total. 184
Number enrolled in each district. 110 Total average attendance in whole district. 61}
Average cost of tuition per month for each
pupil. $2 51 Schoolhouses-Frame, 4; brick, 1; value of same. $1,500
Hardin Township is as yet without a village, the general market being Council Bluffs. There is, however, a small store located on Silver Creek, but it supplies the people of only a small vicinity with the smaller articles of merchandise, most of the citizens of the township buying their supplies at Council Bluffs. There is one post office in the town- ship, the name of which is Snapp, and of which Mr. H. S. Alexander is Postmaster. The first election in the township was held at what is known as the Hardin schoolhouse. There were twenty eight votes polled at that election. Now there are about two hundred residents of the township who are legal vo- ters. According to the census of 1880, the population of the township was 549. It has increased very rapidly since that date, as then but little more than half of the land of the township was under fence, while at present very little of it remains unfenced. This is of itself the best evidence that improvements
are rapidly progressing, and that the popula- tion is increasing. The first birth of a white child that occurred in Hardin Township was that of J. A. Price, on November 16, 1850. He is the son of Rees D. Price, whose biog- raphy appears in this work. The first death of a white person in the township was that of Lorenzo Dunn. This also occurred in 1850. Mr. Dunn was buried near the Mor- mon settlement, on what was sometimes called Log City. The first marriage in Hardin Township was that of Jonathan Patridge. He and his wife subsequently removed to Salt Lake, and have since been numbered among the Latter-Day Saints.
Most of the residents of Hardin Township were possessed of but little property at the time of their settlement. Energy, industry and economy was the capital required to de- velop the resources of the country. A drive across the township would convince any one that the investment had been made and a handsome annual dividend declared by the stockholders. Among those who may be con- sidered as especially fortunate, and who are usually mentioned as the leading or promi- nent citizens of the township, are the follow- ing: Newell Birchard, Perry brothers, Rev. J. S. Rand, J. A. Price, C. Barnard and Will- | iam F. Plunkett.
CHAPTER LI.
GARNER TOWNSHIP-THE MORMON SETTLERS-CARTERVILLE-THE OLD INDIAN MILL-OTHER MILLS-ORGANIZATION OF THE TOWNSHIP-ORIGIN OF ITS NAME-TIMBER, STREAMS, SUR- FACE-FIRST SALE OF REAL ESTATE IN THE COUNTY-EARLY SCHOOLS-RAILROADS.
THERE was but little that was romantic T
about the loaded wagons, weary, worn- out women and children, slowly moving teams of oxen and tired, traveled-stained and anx- ious drivers, as they wended their way over hills, through groves of timber and across the
unbridged streams, and at last settled on the banks of a little stream, which they subse- quently named Mosquito Creek, on account of the millions of these insects which hatched from the stream, and proved a great annoy- ance to them while they were yet in camp
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GARNER TOWNSHIP.
preparing to build rude huts to shelter them from the rays of the hot sun and summer storms. They were Mormons, and had traveled in and formed a part of the great wagon train of that people which crossed the prairies of Illinois and Iowa in 1846, and halted near Kanesville, according to the orders of their leader. Those who settled in Garner Township were among the first of the wagon trains to arrive. They had not made any definite settlement when the war with Mexico broke out, and many of them enlist- ed and engaged in that struggle. Pottawat. tamie County had not yet been organized when they arrived. Township and section lines were unknown boundaries to them until 1853. Localities and boundaries were better fixed in their descriptions by the ranges of bluffs along the Missouri River and the little streams rising a few miles in the interior, and winding their way to the river.
From Lewis Township to Rockford Town- ship, the two extreme townships which border on the Missouri River, there was perhaps not a single township excepting Kane which be- came the halting place of so many of the Mor- mons as did Garner. Not because the hills of Garner afforded a better protection or a more abundant supply of wood and water, were the pioneers induced to pitch their tents or erect cabins on the Mosquito Creek, but because the little old and already half worn out corn mill located on the bank of that stream promised the best facilities for getting what they must have-a little corn meal.
This mill had been built in 1836 by the Government for the benefit of the Pottawat- tamie Indians. Stutely E. Wicks was the last Government agent who ran the mill, and when the Pottawattamies were removed to the reservation granted them in Kansas, the old mill was unheeded as Government property, and Mr. Wicks remained in undisputed pos-
session. He had married a half-breed squaw of the Pottawattamie tribe, who bore him a large family of children. Mrs. Wicks re- mained a resident of Garner Township until her death, which did not occur until the winter of 1881. A number of her sons and daughters are among the respected and well- to-do farmers of the county, and one son and a daughter are with the Pottawattamie tribe in Kansas. There was no mill nearer the Indian mill than one on Rock Creek, Mo., which was known as Meek's Mill. It was a larger and better mill than the Indian mill, but distant from it about one hundred miles, and it was only on rare occasions that a trip was made so far away from home.
William Garner, Adam Ritter, both of whom now live on Section 16, and J. D. Hey- wood, on Little Mosquito Creek, were among the first settlers of the township, and they are perhaps the oldest in the county who have followed farming as a business. They came to the county in 1846, and are now owning the same farms upon which they then settled. M B. Follet, J. B. Dingman. George and Simeon Graybill, J. J. Johnson, Thomas Williams, William F. Childs and Mrs. Mar- garet Stoker were also among the pioneers. They came in 1846, and were soon followed by large numbers, many of whom still live in the township, some of whom are dead and others that moved on westward in a few years and found a final home, and many of them a last resting place in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Just below the point where Little Mosquito Creek empties into the larger stream by the same name, a village of huts known as Car- terville grew and flourished. The place was named in honor of one of the first settlers at that point, and before it was deserted hrad grown to about eighty Imts.
The residents of Carterville were all Mor- mons, and when the body of that people moved
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HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY.
on ward toward Salt Lake in 1852, they formed a part of the caravan.
They had made but little improvements in or near the village of huts of any consequence, and when ready to leave the huts themselves were of so little value that they made no. efforts to sell them, and the site of the town is now owned by J. D. Heywood, whose resi- dence is in the immediate vicinity. All that was picturesque about the bluffs, glens and running streams of Garner Township was passed unheeded by the pioneers. They had traveled over hundreds of miles of country, which presented all manner of landscape views, and cared but little for anything but rest and the necessaries of life upon their arrival.
Wick's Mill, as it was usually called by the first settlers, was but a poor affair at best. Built by the Government for the benefit of the Pottawattamie Indians, the settlers were unable to get any grinding done save at such times as the Indians were not needing the mill. But little else was ground except corn; grain of all other kinds was very scarce, and what little wheat did come to the mill was simply ground, the bolting being done by the settlers as best they could. There was also a saw mill attached to the Indian mill. which was rigged with an old-fashioned up-and- down saw, or what was usually called a sash saw. The sawing and grinding were both done by the same water wheel. The demand for lumber was easily supplied, but so many new patrons overtaxed the grinding capacity of the mill, and settlers were so often disap- pointed, and compelled to wait until the In- dians were through, that they rigged all man- ner of devices for pounding their corn at home. Usually a fire was built on the top of a burr oak stump. and the hollow thus formed was scraped clean of the charred part, and in this they poured their corn and pounded it with the head of an iron wedge to the re-
quired fineness. Corn was scare, and was bought and sold at enormous prices. Ox teams and wagons were plenty, and many of the settlers preferred making the trip of 100 miles to Meek's Mill, on Rock Creek, Mo., rather than to depend on the Indian mill or pound their corn at home. Grain could be bought cheaper in the vicinity of Meek's Mill. and they could start with an empty wagon and two or three yokes of oxen, and make the journey there and back in about two weeks.
Many of the Mormons had not time to leave their families provided for when they entered the army to engage in the war with Mexico. William Garner was one of these. and while away Mrs. Garner was almost wholly dependent upon her own resources to provide for the approaching winter of 1847- 4S. Unable to get corn at reasonable prices, and the further prospect of the difficulty of getting it ground at the old Indian mill, in- duced her in the fall of 1846 to undertake the difficult task of going to Meek's Mill. Provided with a good wagon and three yokes of oxen, the same that had brought them through from Quincy, Ill., Mrs. Garner started out bravely for the mill, 100 miles distant. Experience had taught her the management of the cattle, and the driving and care of them on the journey was undertaken by herself. Three weeks of weary travel, and she returned with provision for the winter, but solemnly declaring that had she known the difficulties to be surmounted she never would have started.
The old Indian mill was run until 1849. when Mr. Wicks built a new mill beside it and used the old machinery. In 1851, this mill was injured by high water, but was re. paired and kept running until 1863, when it tumbled down, by reason of the water having washed away the foundation.
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GARNER TOWNSHIP.
It was still grinding away to the last, and when it fell there were 700 bushels of grain in it. It was never of a very substantial character, as those affirm who attended a grand dance or ball given by Mr. Wicks, and held in the mill on Christmas of 1849, the time of its completion, that at that time it seemed very shaky.
Long before the old Indian mill had been rebuilt, Mr. J. D. Heywood and another party put up a mill on Little Mosquito Creek about half a mile above the point where the old Council Bluffs and Lewis stage road crossed that stream. This mill was first run by hand, but this process of grinding being so slow and laborious, they constructed a shaft to reach the whole width of the mill, built a dam and removed the mill to it. Paddles were put into the shaft, which were arranged so the water would pour through a series of troughs upon them. By the power thus gen- erated, they were enabled to grind as much as forty bushels of corn per day. Mr. Hey- wood and two other gentlemen built a saw mill on Honey Creek, which was fitted up with a circular saw. This was the first saw of the kind brought into the county. They ran this mill with twelve horses, and manu- factured lumber very rapidly, but there was no money in the country, consequently no sale for lumber, and the business was abandoned. About this time, a gentleman named Hamilton built a small mill on Indian Creek, and ran it by horse power. It lasted but a few years, when larger and better mills left it unpatron - ized.
The second mill built in the township of any importance was located about three miles above the old Indian mill, on Mosquito Creek. It was erected by William Garner in 1858, the machinery being purchased by Mr. J. J. Johnson at Rock Island, Ill., while on his way to Ohio. This mill was run success-
fully for a few years, but eventually became an unprofitable piece of property, and was let go toruin. February 12, 1853, Pottawat- tamie County was divided into three town- ships-Rocky Ford, Kane and Macedonia. Garner Township then formed a portion of Kane, and remained as such until June 10. 1876, when the township of Lewis was organ- ized and it became a part of the newly made township. April 2, 1877. a little less than ten months after it became a part of Lewis. a petition was presented to the Board of Su- pervisors of Pottawattamie County, signed by J. J. Johnson, W. F. Childs. John White and sixty-eight other citizens of Lewis Township, asking the Board to divide the township of Lewis into two townships, divided as fol- lows: That all the territory comprised in Township 74, Range 43. and Township 74. Range 44, outside the limits of the city of Council Bluffs, shall constitute one civil township to be known as Lewis, and all the territory comprised in Township 75, Range 43, and Township 75, Range 44, outside the limits of the city of Council Bluffs, shall be known as Garner Township. This division created the following boundaries, which still exist: Crescent and Hazel Dell Townships on the north, Kane Township and the Mis- souri River on the west, Lewis and Kane Townships on the south. Harlan Township on the east. Its greatest length along the northern tier of sections is eleven miles. It contains an area of about forty and one- half square miles, and the surface is high hills, rugged bluffs, deep ravines and some low and unvaluable river bottom land.
The township was named in honor of Will- iam Garner, whose name has already been mentioned. Mr. Garner was born in Davidson County. N. C., January 22, 1817, and is the son of David and Jane (Stephens) Garner. both natives of North Carolina. His
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HISTORY OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY.
father died in September, 1873, aged little over one hundred and four years old, and his mother, who became a resident of California, lived to be almost ninety years old. Her death occurred in 1871. Mr. Garner was seventeen years old when his people moved from North Caro- lina to Quincy, Ill. He remained there about eleven years, and during the time was married to Miss Sarah Workman. In 1846, they joined the Mormons at Nauvoo, Ill., and were among the first to arrive in what after- ward became Garner Township. Mr. Garner did not remain long to investigate the advan- tages or disadvantages of the location on which he had settled, but entered the army and engaged in the war with Mexico. When he returned, he found his wife at Winter Quarters, on the Nebraska side of the Mis- sonri. They located near their first stop- ping place in Garner, and when the survey was made by the Government in 1853, the claims of William Garner, Alex Marshall, George Scofield and Joseph Love were found to be in Section 16, which, accord- ing to the State laws, belonged to the public schools. The above-named gentlemen pur- chased the section from the School Commis- sioners before there was a land office estab- lished in Council Bluffs. They then deeded the land to the owners of claims, each one paying his proportion of the purchase money. 1 This was the first purchase or sale of land in Pottawattamie County.
Mr. Garner has since remained a resident in Section 16, where he now has a farm of 350 acres, besides having given to each of his eleven children a fine farm, all of whom reside within six miles of the old home.
There are but few good farms in the township, and these few are situated between the ranges of hills. About two-thirds of the township is timber land which. where the timber is heavy and has not been too much
culled, is considered more valuable than the prairie lands on the eastern border of the township. It possesses a value over the prairie on account of the value of the timber when worked up into firewood, which sells readily almost any season of the year in Council Bluffs at from $6 to $8 per cord. Oak, hickory, ash, walnut and box-elder are the principal varieties.
Garner Township is drained by Mosquito and Indian Creeks and their tributaries. The former is much the more important stream of the two. It enters the township near the northeast corner, aud flows in an ir- regular southwest direction through Sections 1, 2, 11, 10, 15, 16, 21, 29, 23 and 32. leav- ing the township near the sonthwest corner. There are a number of small tributaries, which rise in the hills of Garner Township and join the main stream within its bound- aries. Little Mosquito Creek, however, is the only tributary of importance within the township. It rises a few rods east of the township line, in Section 18 of Hardin Township. Its course is southwest through Sectious 13, 14, 23, 22, 27 and 28, joining the main stream near the southwest corner of the latter section. Indian Creek. so called by the early settlers for the reason that they al- ways found such numbers of the Pottawatta- mie Indians hunting, fishing or trapping along its banks, has since acquired a name. which, though less classic, is probably more appropriate. It is now usually spoken of as Lousy Creek. This name was given it by the early settlers of Council Bluffs. who were so annoyed by its always bursting all bounds in times of high water, and running, creep- ing or crawling into cellars, outhouses and every conceivable place where it was most in- convenient for them to have a creek run. Indian Creek enters Garner Township from Hazel Dell Township about the northeast
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